What we learned; Sunday 8 March
And that’s where we’ll leave you this Sunday. Here’s a snapshot from today:
Australia is not participating in an “offensive action against Iran” and will not deploy ground troops, but may play a defensive military role in the conflict in the Middle East, Penny Wong said.
Nine direct flights have repatriated 1,549 Australians from the Middle East as of 5.30am, with five more en route to Australia from Dubai today.
The shadow attorney general, Julian Leeser, has called for the Australian government to offer asylum to the Iranian women’s football team now competing in the Women’s Asian Cup on the Gold Coast.
Flooding continues throughout the Top End, with the entire community of Nauiyu (Daly River) evacuated and Katherine still cut off.
Emergency declarations remain in place for the Katherine, Beswick and Daly River regions, but Beswick has been downgraded to a watch and act alert.
About 1000 people are taking shelter from the floods in the Northern Territory.
In Queensland, a severe weather warning is in place for the north-west, with a tropical low gradually expected to move to the south-east by tomorrow. Isolated six-hourly rainfall totals of up to 100mm are likely, along with falls as high as 170mm on the Sunshine Coast.
Alleged members of a secret online child exploitation group have been charged with more than 1,000 offences in what police are describing as “one of the most significant online child abuse investigations in Australia”.
The NSW government has opened expressions of interest for the location and management of a prospective new major film studio in Sydney.
Three teenagers have been charged with murder after a good Samaritan was killed in an allegedly “savage” stabbing attack while trying to help a 14-year-old schoolboy.
Two men have died after being pulled from the water on the NSW Central Coast yesterday evening.
Thanks so much for your company today. Look after yourselves, and I’ll see you next time.
Updated
One Nation candidate calls Julia Gillad a ‘non-productive old cow’
Pauline Hanson’s candidate in the byelection for Sussan Ley’s seat likened former prime minister Julia Gillard to a “non-productive old cow” that should be destroyed before suggesting the comments were tongue-in-cheek.
David Farley, an agriculture businessman, was picked on Saturday as the One Nation candidate for the 9 May byelection for Farrer, which Ley held for 25 years.
The race – a critical first test of the party’s surging public support, and of the Liberals under Angus Taylor – was triggered by Ley quitting parliament last month after being ousted as Liberal leader.
Farley, 69, is a Narrandera-based irrigator, father of three daughters and grandfather of seven.
As the chief executive of the Australian Agricultural Company in 2012, he made a reference to the then Labor leader as he spoke about cows being destroyed using new abattoir technology.
Read the full story here:
Updated
Man stabbed to death in inner west Sydney, police allege
A man is in police custody after another man was allegedly stabbed to death in Sydney’s inner west today, NSW Police say.
Emergency services were called to a house in Concord about 12.10pm today, police said, after a welfare concern report. Officers found a man, in his 30s, with a stab wound to his chest. He was treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics but died at the scene.
A second man, 41, was arrested at the house and taken to the Burwood police station.
Burwood detectives are investigating.
Updated
Liberal MP urges Labor to offer asylum to Iranian women’s football team
The shadow attorney general, Julian Leeser, has called for the Australian government to offer asylum to the Iranian women’s football team now competing in the Women’s Asian Cup on the Gold Coast.
They are due to return to Iran after their final match of the tournament tonight.
The Liberal MP said in a statement today:
On International Women’s Day we must stand up for the women in our midst.
We know that in recent days serious threats have been made against the courageous Iranian Women’s soccer team who are currently playing in Australia.
Given the serious threats, members of the Iranian team should be offered asylum if they want it.
The Australian Government should not turn a blind eye to the danger these women face.
Leeser’s statement comes after refugee advocates urged the government to allow the players to remain in Australia after a state-aligned conservative commentator in Iran described them as “wartime traitors” and said they must be “dealt with more severely”.
You can read more about that here:
Updated
Floods force NT school closures
Schools in the flooded areas will remain closed until the circumstances allow for them to be reopened, Finocchiaro said.
In Katherine, schools are being used as shelters at the moment. Wurst said once the emergency response teams have been able to properly survey the situation, they may be able to set up a proper evacuation centre and allow schools to reopen.
Updated
Private helicopters come to NT towns’ rescue
Eighteen helicopters were involved in the rescue and recovery effort in the Daly River region, with almost all being private and commercial, Wurst says. The remaining were supplied by the Australian Border Force.
Updated
Katherine residents warned not to leave town
People in Katherine have been advised not to attempt to travel out of town, as the Stuart Highway remains closed in both directions despite the rail corridor likely reopening.
Updated
‘Do not make our lives any more difficult’: NT Police
The NT’s assistant police commissioner, Travis Wurst, has urged people in flooded areas not to “do something silly” and enter the flood waters after CCTV footage showed people jumping off bridges into them.
He says:
Through the CCTV network we’ve seen people jumping off the Katherine Bridge, running around in the CBD area [at] the edge of the Katherine River. Not only is the water flooding, flooding and flowing fast, swiftly, but [you] also have crocodiles and other things that will make your life difficult [if] you were to get into trouble.
Do not make our lives any more difficult than they already are. We have all of our emergency services working hand in hand to bring this response effort to the community. And if you are dragging us away to recover you because you’ve decided to do something silly, it impacts on people’s lives. Please, if it’s flooded, forget it.
Updated
Flood waters peak at 19.2m in Katherine River
Jude Scott from the Bureau of Meteorology says the Katherine River peaked overnight at about 19.2m and is expected to begin receding in the coming days.
Scott continues:
In terms of the Daly River, the Daly is currently at 14.4m. It reached classification last night. Now the Daly River is expected to continue to rise in the coming days towards the 15m and beyond, and it is expected to remain in major flood level for at the next week.
In terms weather, that’s [the] forecast for the rest of today, we have seen a slight movement of the focus of the weather towards the north-west coastal areas, but we can still within this active monsoon trough, expect to see showers and storms bubble up. That may lead to some isolated totals in excess of 100mm, although around the 50mm mark is the probable widespread rainfall total for today.
That rain is not expected to increase river levels but may keep them high, Scott says.
Updated
NT announces disaster assistance payments
Disaster assistance payments will be made available for people in the Katherine area, the NT chief minister, Lia Finocchiaro, says:
That support will [be] available as soon as they’re able to utilise it. What this looks like is an immediate relief payment of $611 per adult, $309 per child, capped at $1537 per family.
And also there is a re-establishment assistance fund available for eligible households of up to $8,847, and that is for things like white goods, furniture, bedding and all of those things you can imagine are underwater for a lot of people at a really difficult, stressful and heartbreaking time for that community.
Updated
NT town evacuated as floods prompt emergency warnings
The Northern Territory chief minister is giving an update on flooding in the region.
Lia Finocchiaro says emergency declarations remain in place for the Katherine, Beswick and Daly River regions, but Beswick has been downgraded to a watch and act alert.
About 120 calls for help have been received in the last 24 hours, with about 1000 Territorians taking shelter.
After a survey of the rail, trains will again be moving from Alice Springs to Darwin with the hope that they make it through to Darwin overnight.
Finocchiaro says:
If I move to Daly River to give an update on that community – yesterday we reported that we had a massive evacuation effort under way. We were successful in being able to evacuate 220 people yesterday, and I can confirm now that since then we have been able to get everyone out of Daly River, which is excellent news.
Updated
South Australian Liberal insiders fear for the party’s existence as polls point to an election catastrophe
The sound of The Killers’ song The Man was blaring at Adelaide’s Hackney hotel as Steven Marshall waded through a throng of supporters to celebrate a drought-breaking triumph for the South Australian Liberal party.
Marshall had defeated Jay Weatherill’s Labor government and seen off the threat of Nick Xenophon’s SA Best, to end the party’s 16 years in opposition.
“A massive thank you to the people of South Australia who have put their trust, their faith in me and the Liberal team for a new dawn, a new dawn for South Australia,” Marshall told the crowd late in the evening of 17 March 2018.
Four years later and the Marshall government was wiped out in a Labor landslide led by Peter Malinauskas.
Now, another four years has passed and the optimism of 2018 has been replaced with a mix of trepidation and resignation as catastrophic opinion polling puts the Liberal party in a battle for its continued existence on 21 March.
Some downcast party insiders fear Ashton Hurn’s Liberals could be reduced to fewer than five of the 47 lower house seats, and wiped out in metropolitan Adelaide in a political earthquake on the scale of their Western Australia’s counterparts’ landslide defeat in 2021.
Read the full story here:
Updated
Twenty-six men charged as part of ‘one of most significant online child abuse investigations’
Alleged members of a secret online child exploitation group have been charged with more than 1,000 offences in what police are describing as “one of the most significant online child abuse investigations in Australia”.
In a statement today, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said a year-long joint investigation with Victoria police had begun in late 2023, following intelligence shared by Queensland police.
Police said this led to the infiltration of an online group allegedly using encrypted messaging to share abuse material. The group was shut down and 26 alleged members, all Victoria-based and male, have been charged with offences including the possession, access, transmission, solicitation and production of child abuse material.
Some have been convicted and sentenced to terms of imprisonment, while others remain before the courts. A further nine alleged offenders have been arrested by NSW police.
About 65,000 unique child abuse images and videos, including more than 300 hours of footage, were seized during the investigation. The statement said the material shared by this group was “was truly among the most depraved ever seen by law enforcement”. AFP detective superintendent Bernard Geason said:
I am extremely proud of the persistence of the investigators involved in this extremely distressing investigation. I would like to thank them for their unwavering dedication to identifying the alleged offenders and stopping further abuse. This is a hard reminder of how pervasive this crime can be.
Updated
Labor set to take back Greens’ only seat in NT parliament amid low turnout at byelection
Labor appears set to take a Northern Territory city seat back from the Greens following a low turnout byelection triggered by an MP’s resignation, AAP reports.
Voters in the Darwin electorate of Nightcliff went to the polls yesterday in a byelection called after Greens MP Kat McNamara resigned, citing health reasons.
She won the Green’s first and only seat in the Northern Territory parliament by 36 votes at the 2024 poll, when the former Labor government was reduced to four members in the 25-seat legislature.
At the close of counting on Saturday night, Labor’s Ed Smelt led the Greens’ Suki Dorras-Walker by 141 votes after preferences, with Dorras-Walker needing around three-quarters of the remaining votes to win.
Voter turnout in the byelection was low, at under 67% compared with 76.6% in the 2024 election. Voting is compulsory at all levels of government in the NT but turnout at federal, state and local level is consistently among the lowest of Australian states and territories.
- AAP
Updated
Penny Wong signals possible defensive military support for Gulf nations
Here’s our full report on foreign minister Penny Wong’s comments from this morning about Australia’s possible offer of military support to Gulf nations facing strikes from Iran:
Updated
‘There are crocs absolutely everywhere,’ NT police say, warning people not to go in flooded rivers
Gill has called on people not to venture into floodwaters, following reports of people swimming in rivers. Asked if there is increased crocodile activity in flood-affected areas, he said:
There are crocs absolutely everywhere … Please don’t go in the water. The message is quite clear. Don’t swim in the water for two reasons. It’s because it’s a fast flowing river, and also this is when crocs are most active.
Asked about reports that residents in Katherine were unable to contact emergency services, Gill said he does not have details of specific incidents, but said the advice remains to call triple zero. Earlier he said there had been “telecommunications issues” alongside power outages.
Speaking alongside Gill, the Bureau of Meteorology’s Jude Scott said the Daly River could stay at major flood level for some time:
The Daly River is a huge river holding enormous volumes of water, so it will continue to slowly rise during the next week. And at this stage, we’re expecting it to stay in excess of major flood level for at least this week and into next week.
Updated
Eighty people in NT still to be evacuated from floods after ‘very difficult day’
Northern Territory police incident control acting commander, Shaun Gill, says 80 people are still to be evacuated as the Daly River continues to rise today.
Speaking to reporters earlier about the flooding yesterday, which saw hundreds evacuated by emergency services from Nganmarriyanga (formerly known as Palumpa), Nauiyu (the Daly River community), Katherine and Jilkminggan, Gill said it had been an “incredibly difficult day”, saying his priority was now the remaining people in Nauiyu/Daly River.
We currently have 80 people who were unable to be evacuated yesterday due to weather conditions. So in order to achieve that, they actually had to move people by boat up until midnight last night up to higher ground. So as you can understand, it’s quite tough, and today we have helicopters flying out there with the hope of getting all 80 of them out by today.
Gill says there are about 1,000 people in shelters across Darwin, Katherine and Mataranka following evacuations that used six aircraft 18 helicopters, including winch rescues.
He says at least 90 homes are without power, and electricity has been turned off in the main street of Katherine, which has flooded after experiencing the highest river levels since 1998.
Updated
A quick update to the previous post: we’ve just been advised by the government that flight EK420 from Dubai to Perth, due to land this afternoon Perth time, has 93 Australians onboard.
Updated
Dubai to Perth flights update
Further to our earlier posts about flights inbound to Australia out of the UAE, Emirates has advised there is an additional flight en route from Dubai, due to land in Perth today today at 17:15hrs AWST.
Information about that flight, EK420, can be found on the Emirates website. We do not know at this stage how many Australians are onboard.
Updated
Daly and Katherine rivers flooding update
In the Northern Territory, where yesterday we reported that hundreds of people were being airlifted from remote communities amid major flooding, there are still major warnings in place for the Daly and Katherine rivers.
River heights are expected to exceed 1957 levels – or 15.3 metres – on the Daly River this evening. On Katherine River, river levels peaked at 19.2 metres yesterday evening, the highest since floods in 1998 which claimed three lives.
Hines says water levels have started to drop on the Katherine, but there is a chance more isolated rainfall could “pump more water into the river”:
We wouldn’t rule out a sort of renewed rise in that water level the next couple of days, but for the time being that water level is starting to drop.
NT emergency services are now providing an update on evacuations, which we will bring you news from shortly.
Updated
Weather warnings for Queensland and NT amid flooding and heavy rain
A severe weather warning and several major flood warnings are in place as tropical lows continue to bring heavy rain to Queensland and the Northern Territory today.
In Queensland, a severe weather warning is in place for the north-west, with a tropical low gradually expected to move to the south-east during the day, continuing into tomorrow. Isolated six-hourly rainfall totals of up to 100mm are likely, as high as 170mm on the Sunshine Coast.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s Angus Hines says the region is experiencing the cumulative impacts of a “long and quite widespread wet season”:
We’re seeing rain in that area at the moment, and that rain is forecast to get heavier in the coming hours, heading into tonight ... right through until tomorrow.
A flood watch warning is in place for most of state, with major flooding a possibility on the Georgina, Lower Flinders and Thomson rivers.
Yesterday, there were multiple rescues in the Gladstone region after flash flooding, including 34 people from a bus which became stranded in floodwaters, as well as six other motorists. Queensland emergency have services have confirmed there have been no further rescues over night.
Updated
We’ll bring you updates shortly about the major flooding situation in the Northern Territory, where hundreds of people have been airlifted from the remote community of Daly River (Nauiyu), and the town of Katherine remains under threat.
Here’s our report on where things were at late yesterday afternoon, if you need to catch up:
‘Symphonies in stone’: conservation v commerce in our national parks
When the Gardens of Stone in the Blue Mountains was declared a state conservation area in 2022, it should have been cause of great celebration for Keith Muir. Instead, the plans put forward by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) for the nature reserve make him weep.
“The geology is spectacular,” he says of the nature reserve:
The pagoda landforms are sculptured natural artworks, that is the only way to describe them. They are symphonies in stone.
Muir’s tears are not of joy but grief and rage – not just for this place he loves, close to his home in Katoomba, but for all wild places of Australia.
NPWS, as landowner, is proposing the construction of a multi-day walk passing through the Gardens of Stone, along with luxury glamping-style accommodation. It will be built in the heart of this protected area, which sits alongside a world heritage area, and leased to a private operator. Amid the wildflowers of the Gardens of Stone, between old growth banksia and unique sandstone formations – that resemble the temples of Angkor Wat – on uncleared bush, will sit 18 twin cabins.
But Muir argues that the proposed cabins are not, as they were labelled in public consultation which closed last Thursday, “bush camps”. Instead, he describes the development as a resort. And if you can develop a resort in the Gardens of Stone, he argues, you can develop a resort anywhere.
Read the full story here:
Updated
Captured by IS, Amera began writing letters to her lost brother: ‘I wrote because I was scared, but also because I have hope’
When Islamic State militants arrived at their family’s home in northern Iraq, Amera and her brother were sitting under their grandmother’s fig tree.
The 11-year-old girl had been watching a ripening fig for days but needed her older brother Ali’s height to reach it. Now, with IS beginning an assault on their town’s Yazidi people, she thought this may be her only chance.
The IS members arrived in five cars outside her home in Solagh, a village in Sinjar. They barked orders. Females and males were to be separated. A hand was on her shoulder pulling her towards the other Yazidi women and children.
Amera has not seen Ali since that afternoon of 4 August 2014.
“He told me, ‘my heart always be with you,’” Amera, now 22, recalls.
Amera is one of more than 6,000 Yazidi women and children kidnapped and enslaved by IS. More than a decade after IS began their genocidal campaign against the Yazidis – killing and displacing thousands of the religious minority – she is fighting for the estimated more than 2,700 still missing.
This month, she published a book about her eight months in IS captivity.
Read the full story here:
Updated
NSW begins search for private partner to help build Sydney’s second major film studio
The NSW government has opened expressions of interest for the location and management of a prospective new major film studio in Sydney, offering public land for private companies’ development as part of the scheme.
The Minns Labor government has pledged a $100m capital investment into the studio and will consider expressions of interest from the private sector for proposals on both private and government-owned land, it said in a release this morning.
Three government-owned sites were open for applicants to “consider for their suitability to accommodate a world-class studio”, at Bungarribee, Eastern Creek and Prospect, the statement said.
Other locations, including other government-owned locations, would also be considered as part of the EOI process “where applicants can demonstrate evidence of landowner consent”.
Minister for the arts John Graham said:
Sydney is already a popular destination for international film production … Beyond Hollywood, there is large demand for Bollywood films in Australia, with Indian filmmakers continuing to use the visually striking look of Australia in their films.
We know the demand is there, and there’s a critical need [for] more studio space.
Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said:
This second film studio will create new job opportunities for the sector, support local stories, provide huge economic benefit and attract international blockbusters to the state. NSW is, after all, the place for every story.
Updated
Cost of seats on commercial flights out of Middle East ‘disappointing’, assistant minister says
The Australian government has let airlines know it is “disappointed” at the cost of tickets for commercial flights out of the Middle East, assistant minister for foreign affairs and trade Matt Thistlethwaite has said.
Thistlethwaite told Sky News this morning the government maintained that commercial flights were still the best option for the 115,000 Australians who are in the region.
He said:
The best option at the moment – because the airspace is only open on an ad-hoc basis, the safety authorities in those countries have to make an assessment of when it’s safe to fly – the best option is for Australians to take commercial flights. Now, we’ve seen that some of those flights haven’t been full. We’ve seen the cost of tickets. We’re pretty disappointed by that, to be honest. And we’ve made that disappointment known to the airlines.
He advised Australians in the region to “maintain your booking on your flight if you’ve already got one booked, and then they shouldn’t be able to jack up the prices, and to work with your travel agent and the Australian officials that are on the ground.”
Thistlethwaite would not say whether or not the government supported the decision of the US military to sink an Iranian warship that was on a naval exercise with India in the Indian Ocean at the time, killing 87 people.
He said:
That’s a matter for the United States … that was their offensive operation. And as the prime minister pointed out, Australian Defence Force personnel were not involved in any offensive capacity in that operation … Our support is for ensuring that Iran cannot acquire a nuclear weapon and that they reduce their capacity to acquire that.
Updated
Wong is asked about Australians onboard submarine that sank Iranian warship
Wong was asked about the Australian defence force personnel who were on the submarine that torpedoed and sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean on Wednesday, killing at least 87 people, given her comments on Australia not being involved in offensive actions against Iran.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said earlier this week that Australian forces were in compliance with international law, and that “No Australian personnel have participated in any offensive action against Iran.”
You can read more about this incident here:
Wong told Insiders that this “third country deployment” was “not a new thing”:
It is not new for Australian defence personnel to be engaged in this way. When they are deployed in that way, we always have arrangements to ensure that any personnel comply with Australian law, Australian policy and Australian directives.
Asked if there was any point at which Australia would say they didn’t want their personnel onboard for those operations, Wong said:
We will make decisions in accordance with the principles I’ve outlined about what Australia’s position is. But what I do want to emphasise is, wherever there is a third country deployment, Australian law and policy and directives continue to apply, and they will do so.
Wong would not say whether that meant Australia was asked if it was OK to have ADF personnel onboard during the action.
Updated
Australia could provide defensive military assistance to countries attacked by Iran, Penny Wong says
Australia is not participating in an “offensive action against Iran” and will not deploy ground troops into Iran, but may play a defensive military role in the conflict in the Middle East, Penny Wong has said.
The foreign minister told Insiders:
Many countries which are non participants have been attacked, by Iran through this. You would anticipate as a consequence, that we have been asked for assistance and we will work through that, carefully. And of course, we are.
When asked by host David Speers if that meant assistance to protect them against Iran’s drone and missile attacks, Wong said:
Correct. And we will work through that in accordance with the position that I have outlined, which is we are not participating in offensive action against Iran. And we’ve made clear we would not participate in any ground troop deployment into Iran.
Asked what that defensive military assistance might involve, Wong said:
If a decision is made, I’m sure that we will be transparent with the Australian people.
Updated
Penny Wong is asked how far Australia would go to support the war in Iran
Foreign minister Penny Wong has reiterated her claim that Australia is “not in a position to determine the legal basis of decisions that the United States and Israel have made” in attacking Iran.
Asked about how far Australia would go to support the war, Wong told ABC TV’s Insiders:
In these circumstances, it’s best for us to always come back to what is our position, both as a matter of objectives and also as a matter of conduct, which is why we have also said, you know, we are not engaged in offensive conduct, offensive action against Iran.
Asked about US President Donald Trump’s statements that the US must be involved in choosing the next leader of Iran, Wong said:
The future for Iran and its governance ultimately is a decision for the Iranian people. And that’s not just a values judgment, it’s also a pragmatic judgment … We have seen that regime change being sought by external parties historically. And I think we all know that for there to be sustainable change, a change of regime, it has to be something that the people of that nation back and seek.
Updated
Youth crime debate reignites in Victoria after alleged stabbing attack
The Victorian health minister says her thoughts are with the family of Friday’s alleged stabbing attack victim, calling it concerning.
Mary-Anne Thomas referred to the government’s toughened youth crime laws, which came into effect just over a week ago and could result in youth offenders being dealt harsher punishments for serious crimes.
Thomas said on Saturday:
Young people that are committing violent crimes are about to discover that they will be doing adult time.
Opposition police spokesperson Brad Battin said in a statement that the incident highlighted Labor’s failure to tackle youth crime and remove machetes from the streets.
With nearly 2000 vacancies on police rosters, more than 40 stations closed or operating on reduced hours and PSOs to be stripped from 120 train stations, Victorians continue to pay the price for Labor’s community safety failures.
- AAP
Updated
Good Samaritan killed in ‘savage’ teen stabbing attack, police allege
Three teenagers have been charged with murder after a good Samaritan was killed in an allegedly “savage” stabbing attack while trying to help a 14-year-old schoolboy.
Emergency crews were called to Mernda train station in Melbourne’s northeast on Friday evening after reports of teens fighting.
Passers-by, including a 22-year-old Mernda man, stepped in to intervene after a group of teens set upon a 14-year-old boy.
The passers-by tried to diffuse the situation, with the man taking the boy and walking him away from the situation and outside the train station, Homicide Squad Detective Acting Inspector Nigel L’Estrange told reporters on Saturday.
L’Estrange continued:
Unfortunately, those four offenders followed both of them and then, in what could only be described as a savage attack, assaulted the 22-year-old male physically, both fists, kicking, and they used edged weapons.
The victim suffered life-threatening injuries and was treated by paramedics, but died at the scene.
Four male teens were arrested. A 16-year-old from Whittlesea, a 17-year-old from Geelong and an 18-year-old from Mill Park were charged with murder and armed robbery. A 17-year-old from the City of Yarra, under police guard in hospital, is yet to be interviewed.
The eldest suspect is due to front the Melbourne magistrates court on Sunday.
L’Estrange said:
This is just a tragic situation where our victim here is just a good Samaritan who was trying to do the right thing.
He’s intervened, tried to protect this 14-year-old schoolboy, hasn’t been aggressive at all, tried to remove him from the scene, and as a result of his interaction, he’s now lost his life.
- AAP
Updated
Two men die after being pulled from water on NSW Central Coast
Two men have died after being pulled from the water on the NSW Central Coast yesterday evening.
Emergency services were called to Little Beach, Bouddi, on Saturday after reports of a body in the water, NSW Police said in a statement early on Sunday morning.
Brisbane Water Police District, PolAir and Marine Area Command attended the scene, alongside NSW Ambulance Paramedics, and Marine Rescue NSW volunteers.
A 46-year-old man was pulled from the water before being assessed by NSW Ambulance paramedics but died at the scene.
At about 6.10pm, police learned there was a second man believed to still be in the water and commenced a search. At about 8pm, the body of the second man, aged 67, was found and pulled from the water.
A report will be prepared for the Coroner.
Updated
Two repatriation flights from UAE expected to land
Some 1,549 Australians have been repatriated from the Middle East as of 5.30am this morning on nine direct flights, the prime minister’s office has said. Two flights from the United Arab Emirates are expected to land today and two more flights are scheduled to depart Dubai airport, assuming the airspace remains open.
The flights expected to land today are:
EK406 to Melbourne (ex Dubai), due at 1245hrs AEDT, carrying approximately 151 Australians.
EK412 to Sydney (ex Dubai), expected to land at about 1950hrs AEDT.
The flights scheduled to depart the UAE today:
EK406 to Melbourne (ex Dubai) expected to depart at 1700hrs AEDT.
EK412 to Sydney (ex Dubai) is expected to depart at 1715hrs AEDT.
At about 7pm AEDT yesterday, Dubai International Airport was forced to briefly close as Iran launched missiles and drones at targets across the Gulf. The airport was subsequently reopened.
The first three buses carrying Australians from Doha, Qatar, are arriving this morning in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with 92 Australian citizens, permanent residents and their immediate family members on board, the PMO said.
Qatar Airways has advised the Albanese government that 68 Australians departed Doha yesterday on Qatar Airways flights to different European destinations.
Updated
Good morning
Welcome to Guardian Australia’s Sunday live news blog. My name is Stephanie Convery and I’ll be bringing you all the latest news today.
First up this morning, 1,549 Australians have been repatriated from the Middle East as of 5.30am this morning on nine direct flights, the prime minister’s office has said. Two flights from the United Arab Emirates are expected to land today and two more flights are scheduled to depart Dubai airport pending airspace remaining open. We’ll bring you more on that in a moment.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for parts of north and south-east Queensland as heavy rainfall continues. It is expected to increase over Sunday and continue into Monday. More on that soon, too.
Grab a coffee and let’s get stuck in.
